June 5, 2025
Pinky Cole Names Tech Tycoon Lauren Maillian President Of Slutty Vegan
A game-changing move for Black women in business
Slutty Vegan Founder and CEO Pinky Cole is starting a new chapter—and she’s not turning the page alone. In a move that signals bold intentions and even bolder execution, Cole has appointed Lauren Maillian as president of the wildly popular plant-based brand. Maillian officially began her role June 4.
“This is the first time that I have an all-woman staff in my corporate, which is super, super exciting,” Cole shared. “Especially when I think about who I am to Black women entrepreneurs in America… I know it’s gonna be great.”
Her optimism hits harder when you understand what she’s had to rebuild. Earlier this year, Pinky was involved in a serious car accident that left her physically injured and emotionally shaken. That same season, she quietly lost control of her company—an experience she has since described as one of the most humbling chapters of her entrepreneurial journey.
“I lost the company February 13th. I bought the company back March 28th. And now today, I’ve appointed my President of Slutty Vegan—who is the second president ever, and the first Black woman.”
The leadership shift comes as the brand moves forward into its next phase, which Cole calls Slutty Vegan 2.0. For Pinky and Maillian, it’s also a full-circle moment nearly a decade in the making.
Their earliest encounter was fairly random and easy to overlook. “Our very, very, very first encounter was very informal,” Maillian recalled. “We were both speaking that same year, which I believe was 2017, for John Hope Bryant at the Operation Hope conference, at the bottom of the escalator. That was the very first time. And that same day I had my very first Slutty Vegan burger too.”
Cole confirmed the memory: “I actually remember that now. And it was you and your husband at the bottom of the escalator… and then after that was Indianapolis, right, Lauren?”
The two reconnected recently at Kim Blackwell’s ExcelerateHER event. That’s when the conversation turned from admiration to action.
“It literally felt like business love at first sight,” Cole said. “I need somebody that can come in and just be my right hand and really take the business to the next level… And today actually is Lauren’s first day.”
For Maillian, joining Slutty Vegan wasn’t just a professional decision—it was personal.
“I remember even saying, like, ‘Can I invest? Is there room for me?’ I wanted to be a part of Pinky’s vision. I wanted to be a part of the way that she was lighting the industry on fire,” she said.
With 20+ years of business leadership, including time in VC, media, tech, and food and beverage, Maillian sees this moment as one of alignment: “This is also very personal for me… very synergistic with the life that I lead and allowing me to show up as Lauren Maillian wholly and fully in every part of my personal and professional life.”
“There’s someone very important on Pinky’s team that I’ve worked with… on some really big deals,” Maillian said. “Everything just clicked for us… And what risk-taking and generating the right rewards looks like. So yeah, full circle in so many ways.”
Cole emphasized the significance of their leadership dynamic: “In Slutty Vegan 1.0, it was very man-heavy… This is a new energy. It’s a new opportunity to show that women are dynamic—especially Black women.”
And it’s not just about identity—it’s about execution. “I am rah rah, this raw energy that is in your face, loud and vibrant,” Cole said. “I think that Lauren will bring a sense of sophistication and calmness to everything… She can take those ideas and execute them in a way where they can be scalable. And that’s literally what has been missing.”
Slutty Vegan’s growth plan is expansive—and VOAGIES, Cole’s new plant-based sub concept, is just the beginning. “We are reworking systems,” Cole shared. “Stabilization is important right now… and then we get back into growth mode: CPG, hyper growth, scale, verticals. Now we’re putting it on steroids.”
Maillian’s focus? Innovation through tech, consumer experience, and operational precision. “We’re certainly going to be recreating a playbook of how to be able to build and scale excellence… Every store, every social media interaction, every piece of merch. That is something that is going to be a large part of my focus in the next quarter.”
When asked what advice she would share with other Black women looking to build their business, Maillian shared a powerful reflection: “You don’t get everything you deserve, but you definitely deserve everything you get. And that is how I feel in this season.”
Pinky Cole echoed that sentiment with her own testimony: “There are going to be people, places, and things that tell you that you can’t do it… Six months ago was the roughest season of my life. And now I’m entering the best season of my life.”
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